Materials

Glass

The Roman Empire had fostered unexcelled glassmakers, but many of their techniques were forgotten with its decline. Over the centuries, nearly all of the techniques were revived and some further developed by Muslim glassmakers.

The many methods include the millefiori technique, overlay glass, sandwich glass, marvered and pinched glass, luster and enamel decoration, various kinds of cutting and engraving techniques, and methods for making simpler types, such as blown and molded pieces.

Beaker, colorless glass with wheel-cut decoration

Iran or Iraq; 9th-10th century
H: 10; Diam: 8 cm

Flared beakers resting on a little foot are a familiar type in the Abbasid period. Beakers like this often have wheel-cut or relief-cut decorations. The outside of this blown beaker was first wheel-cut so far down that the two horizontal profiles stand in relief. Then the band between them was relief-cut with a uniform pattern of stylized birds whose wings take the form of the palmettes that decorate much of the art of the day.

Birds were a favorite motif in the period. Their types and symbolism were less important than the ornamental potential offered by their curved lines. In some cases, the birds’ contours were also shaped to create Arabic words.